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Doesn't it seem like people are increasingly receiving weather information from "Apps?" In 2015, Five Thirty Eight asked 938 respondents, "How do you check the weather?" The phone's default weather app lead with 23.2%. However, the second and fourth responses were local TV news (20.6%) and The Weather Channel (15.2%), respectively. When you add Weather Channel and Local TV 35.8% of respondents go to a TV source for weather information. This number doesn't include other networks that have viewership as well. In the aggregate, TV is still the dominant source by my math. I suspect these numbers are even higher during weather emergencies or impending hazards. To find out, I reached out to three colleagues representing different parts of the weather communication enterprise.

I see apps, social media, and the like as being very complementary to what happens on TV. Warning response research tells us people need to get and trust the warnings and that they need confirmation of the warnings before they will take action. Each of these channels plays a role.......I know people still value TV during severe weather because people still tune in in droves when skies turn dark - but also because they tell us after the fact what our being on the air meant to them, how it prompted them to take action, and so forth.

The top concern of Americans is the safety and security of their families. And when there's a weather emergency people want to hear from a specialist. Still today people overwhelmingly turn to television for information during big events like storms. So in spite of all the challenges in TV today our audiences during storms are growing, not shrinking......Our partnership with The National Weather Service is also vital, especially during storms.

It is important that the NWS and the media listen to one another, share plans and information, and seek one another’s input on emergency plans and operations...........Being first" and "being the best" are important motivators and highly desirable in the media business. Indeed, fair and open competition based on quality of service is in the public's best interest. However, in balancing market forces with the public good during periods of severe weather, the broadcast meteorologist and higher management should always place the interests of the public first..........the Society believes that through adherence to the attributes discussed here, the public-private collaboration will continue to improve and better meet the challenge of conveying to the public information relevant to critical decisions related to severe weather.

With meteorology skill increasing, the discussion often shifts to weather communication. Forecasts sniffed out Hurricane Sandy's left turn over a week in advance. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center issued information ahead of tornadic storms in Moore or El Reno. Yet, people still died. Dr. Gina Eosco, Communication Expert with Eastern Research Group, builds on the AMS statement by noting,

TV audiences are diverse, and as such, different communication approaches may work well for subsets of that audience. As long as the gist of the message is, “Here’s the risk; Here’s what you should do,” then having variety, or what some may call inconsistencies, might be okay. If, though, the differences among stations lead to confusion, then there is a risk of misguiding the public during a life-threatening event.

Information is everywhere, but risk communication tells us that trust stems from the source of the information, not the information itself. For life threatening weather, then, TV plays an instrumental role. It provides a trusted context in which to understand risk information. Seeing a doctor is a similar analogy. There are plenty of websites on health information, but we still want a credible doctor to confirm what is wrong and give us guidance on what to do.TV meteorologists play that confirmatory role.

Her comments suggest that the role of television in weather warnings is as vital as ever. No extinction notices yet.